Spirit makers in Oregon

[eatrustic]

I know that there must be a few interesting spirit makers in Oregon besides the truly great Clear Creek.

I'm on my way to Portland in a few days and plan to stock up on Pear Eau de Vie and whatever else C.C. hasn't sold out of but who (and what) is new and interesting in this market?

I've heard of some gin being made but that isn't quite my area of interest at this point.

[John DePaula]

I don't know that much about Spirits, but a recent Food & Wine (Nov. 2007) article recommended the following:

• Clear Creek Distillery
  2389 NW Wilson St.
  Portland, OR
  503.248.9470
  .
  
• Edgefield Distillery
  2126 SW Halsey St.
  Troutdale, OR
  503.669.8610
  .
  
• Highball Distillery
  610 SE 10th Ave.
  Portland, OR
  503.803.3989
  .
  
• House Spirits Distillery
  2025 SE Seventh Ave.
  Portland, OR
  503.235.3174
  .
  
• Integrity Spirits
  909 SE Yamhill St.
  Portland, OR
  503.517.2030
  

[eatrustic]

Great! Thanks. I completely missed that issue but found it online. Here is the Food and Wine link to the site:

Oregon Spirits makers

It looks like other than Clear Creek this is a very young industry with most of the interesting whiskeys still in barrel for a few more years. I can't wait!

[John DePaula]

And I just found this posted over on PortlandFood.org:

2nd Annual Booze Bazaar at House Spirits, 12/15 from 12 to 5pm

Hope you have a good time while in PDX.

[vinelady]

Also Rogue Ales is now making a light and dark rum and a spruce gin. They are very tasty.

[eatrustic]

And I just found this posted over on PortlandFood.org:

2nd Annual Booze Bazaar at House Spirits, 12/15 from 12 to 5pm

Hope you have a good time while in PDX. 

←

Sad to say I will have come and gone (Dec. 6 - 9) but I'm sure I'll find enough to get into trouble with!

I wonder which bars in town will be pouring some of the rarer local products as, like hard to get wines, the producers usually will allot the restaurants and bars (over retail) that can give their product the biggest profile bang for the buck.

And thanks Vinelady for the Rogue tip!

[little ms foodie]

check with teardrop lounge, they seem to be on quite good terms with the distillers!

[eatrustic]

check with teardrop lounge, they seem to be on quite good terms with the distillers!

←

Great suggestion, if the review below is any indication I can't wait to try them out.

Teardrop lounge

[John DePaula]

Just got back from Teardrop with some friends for a Repeal Day celebration. It's definitely one of the best places (THE best?) in the city for cocktails. They really care about what they're doing and it shows.

[little ms foodie]

Just got back from Teardrop with some friends for a Repeal Day celebration.  It's definitely one of the best places (THE best?) in the city for cocktails.  They really care about what they're doing and it shows.

←

Couldn't agree more!

[Cole Danehower]

I hope you'all will excuse a moment of self-promotion, but the current issue of our Portland-based magazine, Northwest Palate has a feature article profiling Portland-area distillers, plus a list of all the Oregon distillers we know about (the magazine is available at Zupans, Whole Foods, New Seasons, Rich's, Fred Meyer, Powell's, and many Borders and other bookshops throughout the Northwest and the rest of the country . . . or available from me if you want to PM me with your physical mailing address).

Here is that list:

In Portland Area:

Clear Creek Distillery

503-248-9470

Highball Distillery

503-803-3989

House Spirits Distillery

503-235-3174

New Deal Vodka

503-490-7357

Ransom Spirits

503-883-2089

Rogue Spirits Portland

503-222-5910

Sub Rosa Spirits

503-476-2808

Rest of Oregon:

Bendistillery in, you guessed it, Bend

www.bendistillery.com

Brandy Peak Distillery in Brookings

www.brandypeak.com

BuTay Vodka in Bend (I will make no comment on the name . . .)

www.bu-tay.com

Dolmen Distillery in McMinnville

www.dolmen.arbre.us

Hood River Distillers (the big boys in the state)

www.hrdspirits.com

Indio Spirits in Cottage Grove

www.indiospirits.com

Liquid Vodka in Bend

www.liquidvodka.com

McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale (just east of Portland)

www.mcmenamins.com

Rogue Spirits in Newport

www.roguespirits.com

And also, there are two distilleries in Washington State, and two operating distilleries in British Columbia, with two more coming on line in the next few months. The Pacific Northwest is a hotbed of craft distilling!

-Cole

[eatrustic]

Just back from my short visit to Portland and I can't say enough about Clear Creek. To find this quality and range of products - they must make close to 15 different spirits (and right in town to boot!) made my day.

They offer tours of their distillery (appointments appreciated) with full tastings afterwards and on site sales.

They have three varieties of grappas which were the particular passion of the young employee who did our tasting and who was one of the distillers. Although they were very good my favourite was their version of the French Marc -made with Gewurztraminer. Between a bottle of that and a couple of bottles of their Pear Eau de Vie and a bag full of minis I pretty well maxed out my liquor allotment.

As has been mentioned above the Tear Drop Lounge is a great place for serious cocktails, everything that is not alcohol is made from scratch including bitters and tonic water. They did not have much in the way of other local products except for Snake River Stampede Whiskey and Pendelton, interestingly both are based on Rye whiskey shipped in from Canada and finished in Oregon. The nod goes to the Snake River as being the superior product.

I look forward to all the great new things coming out of barrel in the next few years.

[chardan]

Ransom Spirits makes some very tasty grappa.

Unfortunately, the OLCC (Oregon Liquor Control Commission) does not make it terribly easy to do all things liquor here, so although there are more and more coming, there aren't too many distilleries that I know of and you can't legally operate one in your home.

_ Jesse Williamson ;-};

Edited December 25, 2007 by chardan (log)

[Mr. Bill]

I've been enjoying the products from Brandy Peak for years now. It's quite interesting to taste the individual varietals side-by-side. So, if you ever get a chance to get to Brookings, plan a trip to their distillery & tasting room, nestled in the woods above Brookings.